All posts tagged Advertising

Ending Dimebon Development: Pfizer and Medivation are ceasing development of Dimebon, an experimental Alzheimer’s treatment, the WSJ reports. It was the second phase 3 trial of the drug to fail. In 2008 Pfizer agreed to pay Medivation $225 million upfront plus up to an additional $500 million if milestones were met for development rights to Dimebon, the paper says …

Pfizer Rises: Pfizer said third-quarter profit rose to $3.74 billion, or 48 cents per share, from $866 million, or 11 cents per share, as it sold its Capsugel unit and benefited from currency fluctuations, the WSJ reports. Excluding the Capsugel gain and other items, earnings rose to 62 cents a share — more than the 56 cents expected by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, the paper says. Revenue rose to $17.2 billion, greater than the $16.4 billion forecast by analysts. Lipitor, the drug company’s blockbuster anti-cholesterol drug, goes generic at the end of the month …

The vast majority of breast cancer cases occur in women, so it’s only natural that the components of and context for public-health ads about the disease have a connection to that gender.

A study recently published by the Journal of Marketing Research, however, questions whether that’s always the best way to go. A series of six experiments demonstrates, the authors say, that emphasizing gender in those ads might actually lower a woman’s perceived risk for breast cancer …

Can a woman and a pig chillaxing in a sauna convey the importance of cooking pork thoroughly? How about showing a shopper faced with a choice of a single dress in an empty mall as a way to convince patients they need to learn about multiple treatment options?

Two government agencies are using those scenarios as part of public-service ad campaigns — created with the pro bono help of the Ad Council — to get across important health messages to consumers …

Germany’s Merck forecasts little or no improvement in earnings this year, with stiff competition for its blockbuster multiple-sclerosis treatment and higher research spending likely to offset the impact of recent acquisitions.